In response to player feedback regarding the limited availability of Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War on Steam, Project Aces extended an apology earlier this month, promising to explore solutions. As part of their commitment, a recent update has confirmed that a standalone application for the 20-year-old game isε³ε° arrive for PC gamers.
A modernized version of Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War was offered as a pre-order incentive for Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve. Since October 2, Steam users could only access Ace Combat Zero by installing Ace Combat 8, a game that demands at least 150GB of storage space. The lack of a standalone option for Ace Combat Zero left some players dissatisfied. Meanwhile, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S users benefited from a DLC executable that enabled standalone gameplay, exacerbating the frustration among Steam players.
Project Aces is now finalizing quality assurance and compatibility checks for the Ace Combat Zero Steam standalone application ahead of its launch. Once deployed, players will have the choice to play the game independently or through Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve. Thanks to Steam Cloud, save data should synchronize between both versions. Additional details about the release timeline and distribution approach will be shared following the studioβs concluding verification phase.
The development team reminded fans that this update is exclusively for those who pre-ordered Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, as Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War cannot be purchased separately. There are no current plans to sell the game independently, as Bandai Namco Entertainmentβs agreements with aircraft manufacturers prohibit it.
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is available on Windows (Steam), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series XβS.